SAT/ACT Admissions Testing Info Night

We had about 25 people attend the SAT/ACT Admissions Testing Info Night last night - many thanks to Maureen and Tara from Revolution Prep for their thorough and well organized presentation! For those that missed it, Princeton Review has a nice breakdown of the differences between the ACT and the SAT here. I recommend their book SAT or ACT? for families that want a really extended look at understanding the two exams and how they differ.

As a summary, here is what we discussed last night:

- All colleges will take either the SAT or the ACT, it is best for students to explore both options, then focus on raising whatever test they naturally do better on (or if they have a similar performance on both, whichever they like better).

- SAT Subject tests are only required at a small percentage of schools, but they tend to be the most selective schools. If a student knows they are highly skilled in a subject, and that they would be excited to do additional studying in that subject for a subject test, they should take the SAT Subject test at the conclusion of the course, when the information is freshest in their mind.

• If a student is in 10th or 11th grade and was not satisfied with their PSAT score, it is more important to raise the main test score first, before worrying about subject tests. In other words, those highly selective schools (that take, say, 10% of applicants) expect BOTH a high main SAT score AND strong performance on the SAT Subject Tests.
• The average SAT score for the current senior class is currently hovering right below an 1800 on the 2400 scale. This would indicate that most students are safe focusing on bringing that score up and not losing sleep over subject tests.

• For the few schools that require subject tests, most ask for only two or three (ie - if World History isn't your thing, go ahead and wait because you may be better at US History)
• Some schools will accept the ACT with writing in place of both the SAT and the SAT Subject Tests. This is a great alternative for students that may have missed the chance to take Subject Tests but still wants to add some reach schools to their college list. 

-  Revolution Prep offers courses at ElRo and registration for a course will also provide you with a bonus online booster class which include prep for tests like the APs and the Subject Tests.

I've been waiting for a chance to use this 20x200 print for a blog post. I know the text is pretty small, but click the link for the full version. It applies to much of this process we call college admissions.